heraldsun.news.com
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Astronauts doomed from the start
By PHILLIP COOREY in New York and ANNA COCK at Cape Canaveral
THE seven astronauts on space shuttle Columbia may have been doomed in the first moments after they were shot into space 16
days ago.

NASA officials are investigating whether loose foam from an external tank that struck Columbia's left wing during takeoff
contributed to its disintegration under the stress of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere one of the most dangerous parts
of any shuttle mission

observer.co.uk
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Nasa chiefs 'repeatedly ignored' safety warnings
Sunday February 2, 2003
Fears of a catastrophic shuttle accident were raised last summer with the White House by a former Nasa engineer who pleaded
for a presidential order to halt all further shuttle flights until safety issues had been addressed.

In a letter to the White House, Don Nelson, who served with Nasa for 36 years until he retired in 1999, wrote to President
George W. Bush warning that his 'intervention' was necessary to 'prevent another catastrophic space shuttle accident'.

worldnetdaily.com
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NASA advisers who warned about safety silenced
Report: Panel members ousted after voicing concerns over budget cuts
Safety monitors who issued warnings last spring over the effect of budget cuts on NASA were subsequently forced out, reports
the New York Times.

Conspiracy theories are oftentimes an outgrowth of suppressed information on the part of the government.

It's important to sort what is a conspiracy, cover-up, or lie by the government from that which sites want to be a conspiracy,
cover-up, or lie by the government, for their own agendas.

Conspiracy theories were already forming concerning the space shuttle Columbia even before it took off.

One theory presented in a chat room was based on the official concern of a potential terrorist attack because Israeli astronaut,
Ilan Ramon, was aboard.

The theory conceived that a staged terrorist attack would happen at lift-off, and the attack would be used by George W. Bush
to gain support for a war with Iraq.